NEW!
Get online access to in-depth information on historic buildings and homes, as
well as monuments and cemeteries in Rochester. You will be able to view,
read, and print out pages from the Rochester
Community-Wide Historic and Architectural Survey.
These volumes contain the 1997-1998 Town Survey of historic properties done by
the Public Archeology Laboratory, Inc. of Rhode Island with the help and
co-operation of the Rochester Historical Commission. They also include
surveys completed and submitted to the Massachusetts Historical Commission in
Boston by the Rochester Historical Society in 1973.

This important resource is made available using
the Hyperion System and the SAILS Library
Network.

You can search for individual titles in our Historical
Collections in our online catalog, iBistro.

The Historical Collections at the Plumb Library
include material pertaining to the town of Rochester, Massachusetts, her
daughter towns Marion, Mattapoisett and Wareham, as well as research material on
towns in Massachusetts and New England, genealogical resources, maps,
photographs, and artifacts. The collection consists of material from the
library's collection, the collection of the Rochester Historical Society, the
Rochester Historical Commission, the records of the North Rochester
Congregational Church, and the Captain Dexter Collection of artifacts and
mineralogical specimens. We are working in partnership with other area
churches, including the First Congregational Church, to help preserve the
heritage and records of the town.

In the fall of 2000, the collections and the
library building underwent an in-depth preservation survey, which helped us
prioritize our preservation needs and decide which materials in our collection
were most in need of treatment. We also learned ways we could keep our
collection safe from deterioration while increasing access to and awareness of
these valuable resources.

In 2001 the library, in
partnership with the Historical Society, Historical Commission, and area
churches, began a grant-funded project to preserve the most fragile
and unique items in the collection, improve the storage of historic materials,
and improve access to the materials through our online catalog, the internet,
and in-person use of the collections. Funding for this project was provided by the cooperating groups, as well as through a generous federal LSTA
grant, which was administered by the Massachusetts Board of Library
Commissioners.

The material was treated at the Northeast
Document Conservation Center in Andover, and as of fall 2002, copies of the
originals are available for use by researchers. Please feel free to
contact us for a list of titles or search our online catalog, iBistro, linked at
the top of the page.

Who's Who: the Preservation
Project Partners

A representative from each group
was appointed to work with the Library Director on this project.